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Paranal Observatory
Paranal Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on Cerro Paranal and operated by the European Southern Observatory. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is the largest telescope on Paranal, actually composed of four separate 8.2 m telescopes. In addition the four main telescopes can combine their light to make a fifth instrument, the VLTI, Very Large Telescope Interferometer. Four auxiliary telescopes of 1.8m each are being added to the VLTI to make it available when the main telescopes are being used for other projects. The first two of these were installed in early 2004 and 2005.
The site also houses the 2.5m VLT Survey Telescope and 4m VISTA survey telescope with wider fields of view for surveying large areas of sky uniformly.
Very Large Telescope
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) consists of four 8.2 m telescopes operating in the visible and infrared. These telescopes, along with 4 smaller Auxiliary telescopes, are also combined to operate as an optical interferometer on certain nights of the year. All of the 8.2 m telescopes have adaptive optics and a full suite of instruments.
VISTA survey telescope
VISTA is the Visible & Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, a 4m telescope under construction at the observatory. It is expected that it will be operational in 2008. It will have a wide field of view, and will focus on infrared surveys of the sky. VISTA is being built close to ESO's VLT for a consortium of 18 UK universities led by Queen Mary University of London and on completion will become an ESO telescope.
VLT Survey Telescope (VST)
The VLT Survey Telescope or VST is a proposed 2.5m telescope with a wide field imager intended to aid the VLT in its scientific aims.
Other buildings
As well as the telescopes, control buildings and maintenance facilities, Paranal has a Residencia (ESO Hotel) which provides accommodation for staff and visitors. This is located 200 m lower and 3 km from the telescopes. It is built half into the mountain with the concrete coloured to blend into the landscape. It has gym facilities, a swimming pool, a restaurant and two gardens.
External links
VLTI, Very Large Telescope Interferometer
Paranal Observatory featured in the Astronomy Picture of the Day
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Paranal Observatory
